Monday, August 7, 2017

President Trump attacks Sen. Richard Blumenthal over Vietnam service

Being on vacation hasn't kept President Trump from going on the Twitter attack.

On Monday, the president criticized Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. The senator had appeared on CNN that morning, discussing the Justice Department's crackdown on leaks, the sanctions on North Korea and what he called "potential collusion" between the Trump campaign and Russia.

"That investigation must be pursued," Blumenthal, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said of the ongoing Russia probes.

That drew the president's ire, with the president calling Blumenthal a "phony Vietnam con artist."Blumenthal did indeed exaggerate about his military service, including one notable occasion in 2008, when he told a group of veterans and senior citizens, "We have learned something important since the days that I served in Vietnam." He got multiple military deferments during the Vietnam War before landing in the Marine Reserve. He then served in the reserve from 1970 to 1976.

While attacking Blumenthal over Vietnam isn't new for Trump he's done it twice before this year Trump also got multiple deferments during the Vietnam War, and he never served in the military.